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Yes, so many of my wife's family were among the people who defeated ISIS. Just imagine the strength and fighting spirit of Kurdish TEENAGE men and women in flip flops with no training defeated ISIS which was largely trained and equipped by CIA and America before they rose to prominence and was deemed an enemy of the West. Imagine you sitting at home, watching television of brigades of heavily armed ISIS fighters taking over huge modern cities in mile long convoys of pick ups with heavy machineguns, decapitating thousands live on twitter, you're a 15 year old girl, and your reaction is to grab your flipflops and your AK and go to fight them. That's a very special kind of inner strength and courage. It's truly tragic, as the kurds are some of the "most normal" in the Middle East, simply meaning reasonably European and sensible in many ways, compared to many of the more fanatical regimes. If a united Kurdistan was created, it could potentially be a kind of beacon of light, humaneness, sensibility and just "normal living" to help stabilise the whole region. An oasis in a sea of fanaticism. What they lack is a strong leader with this powerful vision of unity, as unfortunately due to millenia of wars, the mentality of "caring for yourself first" is extremely strong. Nationalism is also there, but it's a largely unguided force, intercepting militarily when things are grave and you need to defend (e.g. ISIS), but not with a vision of unity for all the kurds. And realistically every major power is against them in the region, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey. They would lose land, power, ressources and influence if Kurdistan became a unified country. Actually Israel is one of the only powerful countries in the Middle East that tries to help Kurdistan - e.g. buy a lot of their oil, covertly sell them weapons, provide secret agents to help defeat fanatics that are trying to rise to power and so on. The Isreali story of being a persecuted nation without a homeland, with all major powers against them is so similar in spirit to the Kurdish story of being a persecuted people without your own country, and all major powers using you and your land as a plaything in their own games. That's why they help each other since modern Isreal was founded, even though ofc many modern Kurdish brainwashed by islamic fanatics are not aware of it, but the older generation remember when secret isreali agents brought them food, water, ressources, clothes etc in times of war and crisis, also weapons for self defense, and still financially today they support by buying oil in massive quantities at a fair price. Yes, Africa could almost be declared the black magic capital of the world, the magic there is very powerful

Hello Annnon, GM Doo Wai explained that for FP Qigong to be optimally effective, one needs to have regular restful sleep--i.e., for FP Qigong to work well, one cannot be sleep-deprived. He gave this answer in reply to my question if FP Qigong can replace lost sleep--citing the fact that the Tao Tan Pai ("Taoist Elixir Method"), which I learned from Taoist priest Share K. Lew (1975 to 1992), has high Yogas called "The Nine Flowers" and "The Five Dragons" that can replace lost sleep and thus enable one to function at full strength and high mental acuity without have regular restful sleep. GM Doo Wai and Taoist Priest/GM Share K. Lew were friends and peers since the moment they met in America, what GM Doo Wai described as "fellow kung fu men." Each was the senior lineage holder of a complete and intact Taoist monastic tradition of kung fu, nei kung, medicine, and spiritualism. Back to your question: "...why good quality sleep is needed or quote the original post?" Answer: It's just how the FP Qigong yogic methodology (utilizing the percentage breathing formulas) works . Tao Tan Pai Nei Kung, in contrast, works on a different yogic methodology that 's rooted in the cultivation of human sexual energy, what some Hindu Yogas and other Tantric systems call "the kundalini" energy ("coiled snake"). FP Qigong, in contrast, does not focus on the kundalini energy or on any other type or "flavor" of energy--for no visualization of any kind is required in the practice of FP Qigong. This great dissimilarity in yogic mechanism between FP Qigong and Tao Tan Pai Nei Kung is reflected/manifested in the fact that strict celibacy must be observed when learning the Advanced Tao Tan Pai Yogas, while no celibacy is required at all when learning and practicing any levels of Flying Phoenix Qigong--or any other Yogas under the Bok Fu Pai umbrella, for that matter. Thus, as I had posted in one of the early years of this thread: when I asked GM Doo Wai (with classmates present) whether we needed to observe any duration of celibacy when learning FP Qigong or any of the advanced Bok Fu Pai meditations (as I had to do when I was learning the advanced Tao Tan Pai Yogas), he answered, "Nah, you can knock yourselves out." However, to explain in any detail why and how FP Qigong requires regular restful sleep in order to work well would require rigorous testing and study by neuroscience, for starters. Sifu Terry Dunn P.S. This is a photo of GM at the grand opening of Sifu Dougla Wong's second kung fu school in Parthenia, Ca in 1981: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10227420095559787&set=a.10227420037518336

Life is Alchemy. (seems to be to my local awareness/experience) Life is the ever shifting of one into another. Awareness (the experience of being) itself is Alchemy. My Son's body formed within my Wife's body. Forming within the womb tzujan, of itself, by transmuting food, air and water that she consumed while pregnant. My Son's body now alchemizes food/air/water into bones, organs, muscles, nerves, etc and sustains awareness of this for a time, before further decomposing (alchemizing) into ought else.. Sunlight stimulates seeds in soil that, which alchemize with water, minerals and light to grow into trees, bushes, wheat, moss etc... these forms further alchemize, transforming into new soil. Transmutation. Alchemy. Reality=Alchemy of Awareness. As awareness is always shifting and morphing, accomodating new sensation, interpreting, adapting, rejecting, believing, seeking etc... Indeed, is there any aspect of phenominological awareness that is not an alchemy of transitioning from one observed form/structure/makeup, into another? Is there ought which is not Alchemy?

It's disgusting what happened to the Yazidi tribes. Melek Taus (The peacock god) is very interesting- embodying eternal light and considered the leader of the archangels, it's a very old religion with practices going back to ancient Mesopotamia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawûsî_Melek.

Of course! Ddecomposition is a leading source of the direction of Primal Alchemy! Have you not recognized the Alchemy of decomposition all around you? The rotting food in your colon and small intestine is the source of all your energy and sustaining of your bodily form. Every thing you consume is dead, or dying as it enters your body. Decomposition is the source of the Vigor and Vitality of Livingness in your bodily experience. The Awareness of Being. In your response, you seem to be looking at my finger... not what the finger indicates.

Recently, something shifted within me. I’ve begun to live with the following belief: my life flows through the Dao, the Source. My existence belongs therefore to this infinite presence. I trust the wisdom of the Dao more than what my eyes can perceive, for the Dao sees farther than I ever could. Everything that unfolds is part of a greater plan, one beyond my understanding. The Dao, the Source, is my teacher. The purpose of my life is to stay connected to this presence. Even pain and suffering can serve as gateways to it. From this sacred space, miracles and possibilities emerge—things my mind alone could never imagine. Since leaning into this trust, I’ve been surprised by a new kind of quietness. It’s so calm inside that I can feel my heartbeat clearly, even when I’m not meditating in a formal way. Before, I could only sense it when I was sitting very still in formal practice. It also feels like the noise of the outside world doesn’t shake me as much as before. I wonder: Has anyone else felt this kind of natural quietness just from trust or surrender? Could this be something like what Daoists mean by aligning with the Dao, or “wu wei”? I’d love to hear your thoughts or experiences.

Surrender seems to be a large part of it. It is not always clear what is being surrendered. Typically, it refers to the acquired mind (識神) or shi shen, the series of habits and ways of doings things that we've picked up over our lifetime or many lifetimes. Under it, the yuan shen (元神), is primordially free and connected to the larger whole. I often think of the TTC 48 on this (trans Derek Lin) Pursue knowledge, daily gain Pursue Tao, daily loss Loss and more loss Until one reaches non-action With non-action, there is nothing one cannot do Take the world by constantly applying non-interference The one who interferes is not qualified to take the world

Yes, some even say the were originally South Indias who fled/migrated. If you see their temple in Lalesh, it's very hindu like in structure. Further, Yazd means "south", so it could be an explanation for the name "yazidi" - people from the south. And just like so other ancient Middle Eastern spiritualities including reincarnation, meditation, all kind of beautiful spiritual teachings, they have to hide it to avoid getting their heads chopped off. In Southern India Subramanya/Skandha/Karthikeya/Murugan is very popular, he's the other son of Shiva (more wellknown son is Ganesha the elephant God), and you guessed it, he rides a peacock. So it's possible they're related, that the yazidis were from South India who worshipped Subramanya.

I looked out my kitchen window on dawn as I was getting water and .... my bottle tree looks different .... that was not there yesterday . still in dark silhouette against the sky .... hmmmmm ... very suspicious , I know what's going on here . Two 'froggies' * cuddled up together against the cold ... pretending they are not there . * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawny_frogmouth 'No , you are not a branch ... I can see your eye ! ' one can get very close ... and they freeze ...... 'No one here but some old gnarly wood .' front on view ; They usually hang around for a few days , but this time of year, they may have a nest nearby . I have seen them a few times here around the cabin ; once a mum with three little ones lined up along the branch . They have a nice night call too

Truly demonstrates that Vajrayana, Zen, and Daoism are all deeply intertwined.

Here's a quote from Hakuin. I knew I remembered it from somewhere

I have gotten instructions from a Soto person that was very close to Damo's. And Meido Roshi teaches it, but his lineage also includes martial arts. He wrote a book with some instruction on it. https://www.shambhala.com/authors/g-n/meido-moore/hidden-zen.html

As far as I know, zen doesn't teach hand positions or the specific standing exercises that daoists use to construct a dantien. Yet the hara development is tangible, and comes through years and years of abdominal breathing. The hara has many of the properties associated with dantien, I.e. a magnetic quality on the mind, a reservoir of ki etc.

Hello everyone I have long been interested in comparative religions and spiritual exploration. Now I am very interested in Buddhism and Taoism, especially Taoism, and that is what brought me here. I look forward to discussing these things and getting to know other people who have similar interests.

Practicing black magic causes many risks, even to the practitioner himself. For example, there was a famous magician in Egypt, a student of Al-Tawkhi, who was an experienced magician in black magic, and he was found dead while practicing black magic, His face showed signs of horror and fear, This story is very widespread in the middle east, but I honestly do not know whether it happened or not, but its content is true, which is that practicing black magic can be very dangerous, even for the practitioner himself, and not just for others, You can look at the pages of Shams al-Ma'arif al-Kubra, especially the older editions, and you will feel uneasy and intimidated.

Hopefully she will help clear up your confusion if you continue to study with her. It certainly is a foreign concept to most Westerners. Not only that, I think it is fairly sophisticated, esoteric, and abstruse. I think the meaning can be quite elusive and easily misunderstood. The first time I encountered it was at a Bön retreat with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. We also did a daily protector deity practice and both gave me religious ick vibes. It was my first ever retreat of any kind and first exposure to Bön or Buddhism. I considered leaving after the first day but resigned myself to give it a chance. By the end of that week and in the few days after returning home I had some very shocking and profound experiences and visions that made it clear this was the right practice for me and I’ve practiced it for the past 12 years. My daily practice starts with some energetic and breathing practices, tsa lung and the 9 breathings of purification. Next I recite some prayers, practice guru yoga, and then rest in the nature of mind. I wrap it up with a dedication prayer. I think it is a good exercise in openness and flexibility to consider giving new and strange things a try, with the exception of balut, that shit’s crazy. If we are too closed off we can miss a wonderful opportunity. On the other hand, if you try and can’t connect don’t force it. Tibetans with the right cultural background are going to expect, even need this sort of experience to make a deep connection. Westerners are going to be very hit or miss with this sort of thing. You can tell Tenzin Rinpoche has realized this by watching how he teaches. I’ve watched his method change over the past decade. I rarely see him formally guide guru yoga, except in very specific circumstances. Most times he will recite the prayer and then lead the sangha in a very simple mantra, A Om Hung which is a simplified and secularized form of guru yoga. Reciting A Om and Hung we are receiving the empowerment of the enlightened body, speech, and mind without having to embrace a foreign icon. I love him too. He is a great teacher and human being, he really walks the walk. One very important point he emphasizes is to never practice guru yoga with your living teacher. This can set up an unhealthy relationship and dynamic. We mostly practice guru yoga with the 8th century dzogchen master Tapihritsa (the icon in my avatar) who represents all the masters and teachers who have helped you on the spiritual path, especially your root master and the one that introduced you to the nature of your own mind. He founded a secular program called the 3 Doors Academy that teaches the core of dzogchen with none of the religious trappings. I’ve been through that program as well and have seen amazing results and transformations in the participants. Of late, he rarely guides or teaches the full formal guru yoga practice but the more traditional Bön teachers still do. Tenzin Rinpoche’s teacher also taught ‘there is no dzogchen without guru yoga’ but Tenzin has allowed his experience of Western life and students to inform how he presents it. While these are both implicit in guru yoga, the traditional way in Bön is to go through guru yoga, refuge, and bodhicitta prayers in each practice session. If this works for you it is enough. Ultimately, guru yoga is to recognize and develop a deep and stable relationship with true nature of your being, the essence of your own mind. This is the secret guru. The outer guru is your human teacher and the inner guru is your yidam. The most important thing is to find something we can trust, be it the human teacher, the yidam, or the inner refuge, the nature of our own mind. Trust, dedication, and gratitude are the key and the fuel for connecting with the teachings, teachers, and most importantly the inner teacher. I think you’re asking great and important questions. Nothing more important than being true to your feelings and personal experience. Feel free to reply or PM if interested in further discussion.

Yes, I have lived like this my whole life. Yes.

Hermione's name, according to Rowling, was inspired by Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale.

Hello! My name is Mehmet. I’m from Sweden and have been exploring Taoist practices for many years, including qigong, meditation, and internal energy work. I’m here to learn more and deepen my understanding of Taoism through shared experiences. Looking forward to being part of the community. – Mehmet

The REAL YOU is not even here, so why bother with all the complex talk about nirvana, suffering, cause and effect, sunyata (emptiness), dependent origination, etc. Same goes with Taoism. Tao ---> yin & yang and the creative action of the five forces. That's it. Stop there and don't make things more complicated. Really: We for once are only spiritual beings having a human experience now and as long as you have tentacles left you will carry on with the vital experience. Once the tentacles are all gone you remain in a state of Tao/nirvana as you have always been from the VERY BEGINNING.

https://authenticneigong.com You can find threads in General Discussion, I think. Very good teaching and methods, highly recommendable if you want to know how to build the dantian and do faqi.

Dear Dao Bums,I'd like to share my experiences with ancestor worship, as all as hear your experiences with ancestors. A hindu holiday called "Pitru Paksha" (Fortnight of Ancestors) just finished, it was 16 days in total from the full moon on the 29th of September and just concluded here on the new moon 14th of October. In this period I did particular ancestor practices each day consisting of mala japa (mantras recited using a rosary), puja (prayer ritual), tarpanam (water ritual) and havan (fire ritual). I'll share my experiences in 4 parts: 1) My personal bias against ancestor worship 2) My reason for trying ancestor worship 3) My experiences with ancestor worship 4) Conclusion 5) Questions for you 1) My personal bias against ancestors worship Growing up very influenced by monotheistic ideas, I was always very biased against ancestor worship. Why worship spirits, when you can worship Almighty God? So I always kind of looked at worshipping anything but "The One Surpreme God" as a kind of waste of everyone's time at best, and on par with black magic at worst. 2) My reason for trying ancestor worship In spite of the above bias against anything related to clairvoyance, chakras, energies, spirits, higher beings, ancestors etc, I decided to try it. The reason being that over the course of my life, in spite of the above mentioned bias, it was practical life experience which taught me the validity of many of the above things. Through SKY I learnt that chakras are real, through terrifying experiences I learnt that black magic & evil spirits are real, through Hindu rituals, mantra & meditations I learnt that these things indeed work and can improve your life spiritually and materially. So because everything Hindu-related I tried actually "worked" practically, gave me results & experiences, I decided to give the Hindu version of "ancestor worship" a go this Pitru Paksha holiday. The reason being that my horoscope indicates "Pitru Dosha" or "Ancestor Problem". Another motivation to curiously be open to new things and actually try it. 3) My experiences with ancestor worship I'll share a bit about what I experienced from each modality below. 3.1 Mala Japa I committed myself to 110 malas of 2 different mantras during Pitru Paksha (as advised by Hindu astrologers). The first was "Pitru Dosha Nivaran Mantra" or "Remove Ancestor Problem Mantra". The second was a Vishnu mantra said to give Atma Shanti (Soul Peace) to troubled ancestors, namely Dwadakshara Mantra (12 syllable Vishnu Mantra). The first day while reciting my 7 daily malas of the Dwadakshara Mantra for Pitru Atma Shanti, I felt a peace come over me unlike any peace I've ever felt before. It was so deep, profound and restful, I never knew such peace existed. The next day during practice, instead I started having spontaneous memories of my maternal grandfather. This continued for about 2-3 days and brought me a lot of joy to remember. It was all things from when I was very young, because he passed away when I was only 11 years old. After that a period of about 4 days started where I would have memories of my paternal grandfather. I loved him very dearly, even though we mostly saw each other when I was a kid, and again the last 2 years before he passed away in my mid twenties. Further, the last 2 days, I felt some negative feelings related to wanting to love your family and truly loving them, but also feeling very annoyed and aggressive with your family because of their negative traits. After that I saw sporadic memories of different family members for a day or two, and after that a new phase started. During the remaining days, whenever I sat for japa of this mantra I wouldn't have memories, instead I would have feelings. E.g. feel restless, annoyed, irritated and many such minor negative feelings, however it was quite intense. As soon as I finished my 7 malas it stopped, and I returned to the mood I had been in before starting japa. On the final 16th day, the deep, profound and restful peace again enveloped my being, and I knew that I had helped my ancestors overcome their spiritual troubles and give them peace. As well as cleanse and purify their physical and spiritual imprints in my body and soul. The Pitru Dosha Nivaran Mantra was extremely powerful and energizing to say, even though it was a long mantra and took deep concentration to remember. It also took much, much longer to recite the 7 malas each day, as the mantra was so long. During the entire 16 day period, I mostly felt energized while doing it, and only a few times I felt restlessness and at another time extreme boredom. 3.2 Pitru Puja I did the puja daily with my wife, it's a very short puja where you offer your ancestors "the 5 offerings" (panch upachara) namely 1) sandalwood powder (gandham) for the earth element, 2) flowers (pushpam) for the space/energy element, 3) incense (dhupam) for the air element, 4) the flame of a lamp (dipam) for the fire element, 5) fruit (naivedyam) for the water element, 6) mouth freshener (tambulam), 7) finally burn camphor (kapoor) to purify the mind (manas). My wife has middle eastern background, and many of her ancenstors in the past century have fought and killed and been killed in wars, as well as endured torture, unjust imprisonment etc. During the first day of puja, I "felt" or "saw" 7 ancestors enveloped in a golden aura coming on my side, and I saw what must have been about 150 ancestors or so envoloped in a red aura standing on her side. When we offered the food, I felt a physical sensation of something "grabbing" into the food in my hand and "taking a portion" of its energy. As each day progressed, fewer and fewer ancestors would be there. My number reduced from 7 to 4, then to 2, and finally 0 would come. For her it reduced from about 150, to 120, to 70, to 40, to 10, and finally 0 would come. It was already after about 1 week of daily puja that 0 would come. I didn't know exactly what that meant, but I took it as a positive sign that they had been satisfied and were in no further need. We still continued the daily puja for the entire period, though I didn't feel like anyone came after that. 3.3 Pitru Tarpana During pitra tarpana, you offer water with sesame seeds. As a man I offered black sesame seeds, my wife offered water with white sesame seeds. You say a mantra and pour the water into a plate. I felt different positive & pleasurable sensations when offering to different ancestors (pitrus), but I couldn't identify a pattern of which ancestors triggered which sensations. Another thing I noticed was that the lamp we had burning (from the puja, we always did the two rituals right after each other) would seemingly change color and shine different lights! I was focused on pouring water into the plate, so I couldn't watch it closely, but it seemed it was a particular great grandfather or great grandmother, then the lamp would shine a dazzling rainbow light with shining silver specks in it. This happened about 3-4 times. I just took it as a positive sign that this ancestor received our offering. 3.4 Pitru Havan Towards the end of Pitru Paksha my wife's sister visited us. She unexpectedly called my wife up one day and said she'd like to visit. She stayed and stayed and stayed, even though she had work next day (also against the normal pattern), and late in the evening I said we needed to do a ritual and if she would like to participate. To our great surprise she happily obliged to participate in a fire ritual for the ancestors. We were both extremely surprised, as that's not something she would normally be open to, and especially this late on a weekday. So off we went and did the fire ritual, and she completely changed during the ritual. She has a general sad tendency in her mood, but when we did the ritual, the more mantras we offered into the fire, the more energized and passionate she became. Towards the end as we were to finally pour in all the remaining offerings, she jumped up and down and around the fire almost screaming the mantras. She was fired up!!! It was quite an interesting experience. Finally, on the new moon and last day of pitru paksha, me and my wife went alone to the nearby bonfire place to perform the "full" havan. We had performed a very shortened version to accomodate her sister's participation last time. It was extremely powerful. It was as if the fire was alive, it eagerly ate up all offerings, and on different ancestors names it would change color (the flame would be yellow, red, orange, white, blue) and it also changed its pattern (sometimes circulating in the fire pit, sometimes staying in a particular corner, sometimes suddenly rising much higher, then suddenly falling much lower) etc. Sometimes the offerings in the pit "exploded" which was very unsual, luckily we weren't hit by it. We took it as a communication from the ancestors, which ones we had a good karma with, who did we have a bad karma with etc. At the end of the ritual you walk clockwise 3 times around the fire, and at that point my whole being dissolved in extremely restful peace. I was shocked, because we were both in a quite energetic and dynamic mood, but like lightning, very suddenly and powerfully, when we circled the fire I was plunged into extreme peace. 4) Conclusion After completing all of the above sadhana (spiritual practice) during pitru paksha I must admit that I am now a firm believer in ancestor worship. It didn't feel spooky, scary, unnatural or any of the prejudiced ideas I had about connecting with "spirits". It felt very normal, very natural. It's still your family, they just don't have a body anymore. I truly believe you can really change yourself, your life, your destiny, your karma & your relationships by ancestor worship. My wife has always had an extreme rageful temperament, so has her family, at the drop of a hat they can explode. Since the very first day we started Pitru Paksha, she has been much, much calmer. I don't think she's gotten angry even once since, which is extremely unusual. Usually every day or every 2 days she will have a short ragefit. I believe now it's all the ancestors who died young in the war and are still full of violence, anger, rage & agression about the war, torture, imprisonment etc, they need someone to "see" them. See their rage, see their pain, see their anger, only then do they feel seen and understood, and then they can "let go" and move on. Now after all our prayers, they have found peace. Then they can move on, instead of "lingering around" my wife and her family, simply waiting for the right moment to "jump in" and express their rage through their descendants. We'll see how it goes from here, but I have a profound respect for ancestor worship now, and can imagine doing it every holiday suitable for it or when otherwise needed. 5) Questions for you What's your experiences with ancestor worship?

It is not a fallacy, the question is illogical! There are many documents to support that the lower abdomen is the LDT.

This is an interesting read. Corey spent several years at Sogen-ji. https://zenembodiment.com/2018/06/08/breathing-from-the-belly-tanden-a-great-rolling-ball/ I suspect that hara/tanden has an important role in the flash of insight that comes from koan practice. For instance, instructions often suggest holding the koan in the hara.

What is the purpose of hara development or building a dantien? I suspect that those who embrace these practices are aiming at something different from realization or awakening as it´s thought of in most Buddhist contexts. A related question: Is it easier to awaken in a healthy body?

You can pretty much get to the bottom of what he is doing from his two books and some experimentation. That's not a slight on his system, closer to a compliment of its simplicity. There is also a really cool YouTube video if you haven't already seen it called 'A short intro to internal power with Rod Alavi'. Rod Alavi is a Powerslap "athlete" They go through a basic lesson start to finish so you can see how it all fits together and then take it over the line yourself if you're motivated. Those things in combination should get you off and running.

I find that for me personally anything I do related to Enochian, even saying their words/language out loud brings attention to me. Not even necessarily the calls. I haven't' touched this paradigm deeply for that reason. I find that sometimes when using powerful esoteric tools in an unorthodox fashion will bring attention. Dope is a typical slang word mainly used to indicate that something is Lit, fire, cool, good. It's more of an urban term, from a particular era mostly 90's-early 2000's. What you made, in my opinion was art and it was "dope" or cool. lol Those Art Deco pieces are Amazing! I'm an Art Deco freak- Architecture, furnishings, accent pieces and jewelry. I love the lines and design elements from that period. I have a later era focal piece in my home as well. It needs to be professionally restored however. Same here with personal style, I love uniqueness and acknowledging when someone has put together a well thought out outfit. I often comment as well. I worked in the Interior Design field for a long time and most of my mentors were gay men, including my high school art teacher. They were really instrumental in helping curate my personal style-and teaching me to "own it" and pay no mind the haters. Those men were fierce and oh my could they ever party...someone else on here made a comment in another thread about "getting lit with homosexuals" (getting drunk or high with them in that context) I just chuckled when I read that-cause yes girl, the men I knew- they could out to party/dance everyone...unfortunately the rest of the thread was a strange and homophobic. Although I don't make my own clothes, I do thrift a lot, its a personal hobby (for furniture too) and I'm constantly looking at how well a garment was made- I look at fabric type, stitching (it is straight) and overall construction and steer clear of fast fashion- I really love vintage. It's so funny to me that now anything made/built in the 80's is now considered "Vintage." It's a mind warp really, considering I too was made in the 80's. Oh man, that Seinfeld sketch is hilarious..lol.

My cousin's husband is from Morocco, he also told me these stories. How poor and desperate people do black magic in the street while begging or scamming people for money. Yes, unfortunately each nation or people has certain strengths and weaknesses, or we could say blessings and tests from God. A huge test in the muslim ummah in general is jealousy and hate, competing with your close ones instead of cooperating, and social comparison and judgement is an enormeous weight pulling also down on the already burdened shoulders of Middle East. Whereas I would say the joy of life, love of living, zest and ofc a natural social inclination as well as enjoyment of gathering together, having food together, just enjoying each other is a big blessing of these people. Just being human, and aliveness itself. I always enjoy when we just get together as a family, even if we speak different languages, just sitting and having tea together, sharing funny/silly insta videos I feel so connected to my extended family members. This is a big blessing without a doubt too.

I don't know why. But when I see the name Nathan Brine. I stop paying attention & couldn't care less what he says.

It is very easy to figure out if he is telling the truth or not. Look at his students. If they can Faqi or display the abilities that come with merging Yin and Yang chi, he is probably correct. If not then there are two possible explanations: 1) he is making things up 2) he is not teaching the correct method to his students.

I only commented on eastern alchemy. Not eastern internal alchemy. So nah.

The kitchen is ready for Halloween!

Unfortunately this guy has become an AI meme bot now. Pretty bizarre to have cars and roads the same colour, kinda dangerous. I agree with compound like-looking homes and commercial buildings as well. The days of ornate and beautifully carved facades is over. Even nice brick work is overlooked for vinyl exteriors.

Its also employed in Magick, as you probably know . I once drew up and painted a full set of Enochian squares , doing that is an interesting exercise in color Also I am big on interior decorating . My latest , a separate 'pod' shower / wet room ; connected to the cabin by raised decking from the back veranda to the wet room veranda , a lot of large glass panels ceiling to floor that look out to the forest and a three tone green random patter subway tile . To off set that I ran a thin 'accent strip' of long thin tiles ; silver , crystal and mother of pearl . I did use grey but that is the floor tile that has multi colored river stones set into it and matches the grey grout between the green tiles . It was a risk, with a chance of looking garish , but I manged to pull it off (according to observers ) . The wood is a teak and has silver boarding strips between the wood and tile . Something about the green and silver together made the grey work better . Bedroom has a lot of windows too , mostly out to the forest , one side has a view out to the escarpment on the other side of the valley , but inside its wood and soft furnishings mostly a muted 'Bengal red ' a type of deep red or burgundy . It also goes good with the wood tones . I find tones are important for matching ; eg the green view and the red furnishings . Sometimes garish color mixes work with right tones and good mixes may not work with bad tone choices . I like your point about responses . When I did some teaching there was a color segment in it , the kids didnt get this point so I put up a huge sheet of white paper and then a bright red splashing dripping wide brusk bright RED across it .. and they were all 'Arrrrgggh ' , then I took that down and did a watery soft pastel blue soaking straek and they were all ' Ahhhhhhhh .... ' But also think shiny grey restored old Massey Ferguson The epitome of 'efficient non-modern ' ; everything makes sense and on inspection one can figure out how to fix it and it comes with a single multi use tool that you can use to do do a near total dis-assembly ! And the three primary colors . Here is an interesting offshoot to my 'Universal 3 : 4 theory ( that every thing has an underlying 'ideal' pattern of 3 that manifests in a 'real' pattern of 4 ) There is no primary color , its a concept ; 'pure' red, blue , yellow . But in nature it is said there are four 'natural colors' ; red , blue, yellow and green . yes; color, texture, lighting , scale, proportion , but also tone and saturation . I wondered what AI has to say about my interior .... I tried bengal red , but it gave a tyopical red response , so I tried maroon and it was more accurate ; '' Maroon primarily evokes feelings of sophistication, confidence, warmth, and strength. As a deep, muted shade of red, it carries connotations of luxury, ambition, and inner peace, while its strong undertones can also suggest passion, authority, and passion. In a space, it can create a cozy, luxurious, and grounding atmosphere. '' especially my bed which has a dark maroon / deep red shiny velvet color cover ... sumptuous, someone descibed it as . I think I would have to leave within 15 mins .

Certainly ! Not even those practicing 'black magic' but modern people that have a variant traditional 'affiliation' - for Iraq he Kurdish Yazidis spring immediately to mind ; '' The Yazidis, or Azdis, frequently called "Devil Worshippers" are a small and obsure religious sect (numbering about 100,000) of western Asia. They are scattered in Syria and Southern Russia, but are concentrated chiefly in the mountains of Kurdistan and Sinjar Hills near Mosul in Northern Iraq.'' - a long history of oppression, suppression and violence against them ; https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/229404134.pdf Yemen ? All one has to do is pass by through the straights there - let's face it, some of those people will do violence to people of the same religion ! Just a different 'branch' of the one they belong to .

In Feng Shui colour does have its advantages and practical applications, but in a broader sense colour theory is employed by designers (interior and clothing) as it has a psychological effects. The colours/tones you wear can either make look bright and compliment skin tone or drown you out or making you look washy. Bedrooms are a great example, consider the calming effect of having a light blue tone room, versus navy blue or neon green. Which colour(s) will promote rest and serenity? What emotional response is invoked when you see a deep red or burgundy bedroom with blue undertones? How about a fire-red room? Grey is a terrible choice for interior design, I'm so happy this trend is making its way out the door. It's depressing and yes, sucks the energy out of a space and invoking a cold and lifeless atmosphere. Think concrete.. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6120989/ There are other more esoteric elements to consider as well, take the 3 Gunas for example and the colours associated with them. We could also associate colour with the western elemental forces, as well as eastern (which is employed in Feng Shui). Balance is key and what designers strive by using colour, texture, lighting, scale and proportion. Colour is an important force to use in our lives and should be considered when you're designing any interior space whether it be commercial, residential, or even fashion. Your home should be a reflection of who you are and the emotional state(s) that you want to feel when inside of it or conversely your colour choices and design choices can be a product of your emotional state. What emotional response do you get from this home, could you live there or spend the night? Design matters, it's everywhere whether intentional or not.

Those Five Forces are very real; from their subtlety they are the power manifestations of the yin & yang. Rise...Water Expand...Wood Flare up...Fire Sink...Metal Balance & Harmony...Earth Or if you like the analogy of the rotating ball (yin & yang interplay): 1. Ball gathers energy (water). 2. Ball is thrown and starts generating energy (wood). 3. Ball reaches its peak (fire) 4. Ball starts a phase of integrity and harmony of the entire system (earth), which is the ball itself 5. Ball then starts decelerating (metal) before retuning to its negative peak (water) Then the cycle starts all over again and so forth, infinitely.

Even without that story , the 'virtuous' will realize that these practices are bad 'in themselves ' . I will share a passage with you about using magic ; '' ... Be thou therefore prompt and active as the Sylphs, but avoid frivolity and caprice; be energetic and strong like the Salamanders, but avoid irritability and ferocity; be flexible and attentive to images like the Undines, but avoid idleness and changeability; be laborious and patient like the Gnomes, but avoid grossness and avarice. So shalt thou gradually develop the powers of thy soul, and fit thyself to command the Spirits of the elements. For wert thou to summon the Gnomes to pander to thine avarice, thou wouldst no longer command them, but they would command thee. Wouldst thou abuse the pure beings of the woods and mountains to fill thy coffers and satisfy thy hunger of Gold? Wouldst thou debase the Spirits of Living Fire to serve thy wrath and hatred? Wouldst thou violate the purity of the Souls of the Waters to pander to thy lust of debauchery? Wouldst thou force the Spirits of the Evening Breeze to minister to thy folly and caprice? Know that with such desires thou canst but attract the Weak, not the Strong, and in that case the Weak will have power over thee. '' - In the modern world I think it is easy to see how many have become slaves to ' the hunger of gold ' . and also 'living fire to serve thy wrath and hatred ' - actually one can see modern civilization (if not the whole of 'mankind' ) abusing ALL the elemental forces . And we can see , or are starting to see the results . Do you know the story of Faust ? He wanted all those powers so did a deal with Mephistopheles . he was a type of icon for an era . Some have said the modern Faust is the scientist . He traded his soul for technological power . How will that end up ?

Elaborate more on the qualities of releasing? Energy still do accumulates. But we need to remember there are layers and frequencies /planes of energy existence. Jing qi shen, vital astral mental akasha etc. And when one layer is full or stable, it tends to transform to the other layers and so on. So condensing and channeling all energy into the vital astral forcefully, just creates a funnel and consolidation that is difficult to tame. Yes you can get some powers. Yes you can extend life. There are many things you can do. But the effort to manage that dantian is not really worth it. Any slight negligence to will snowball into the negative effects I mentioned earlier. Yes. Qi emission carelessly is one way to die early. Specifically Kong Jin, meaning through space and time, non contact. But specially qi emission from dantian that is problematic. There are qi emissions for healing, like reiki and other Chinese systems that stream from the external universe. Those are more gentle and harmless. As my sifu said, when doing qi emission, don't squeeze toothpaste, you die early. So it goes back to the problem with the dantian. My recommendation along with many masters I know who been there done that, who are healthy, is train to open your body, let energy stream and fill up your whole body naturally. Various parts of your body like your dantian, ming men, upper back, spine will tend to store more qi naturally. There is no need to force more in. As you cultivate, blockages are released, and it gives space in your being to fill up with more qi on its own. Qi will fill up space on its own. And you use whatever VOLUME of chi is flowing through your system, relative to your skill, cultivation. And practicing refining your mind quality, your yi, sharpen and still it, results in your needing to use LESS chi to get the job done. That is a sign of real progression. Having more and more chi is not really the main goal at the end of the day. You want to have a deep relationship with it instead. Mark rasmus is generally retired from teaching qi gong. But you can find his lessons on the martial man website. It is cheaper there. You can find his student like dinash (urbansage). He seems to be giving workshops recently. He is good.

I’m not a huge Lord of the Rings fan but always liked this quote: It’s about adversity and acceptance of unchosen circumstances. Don’t waste energy wishing life were different. Focus on how you can use the time and circumstances you do have. Greatness emerges when people rise to challenges they never wanted. What makes this quote even more powerful is JRR Tolkien fought in WW1. He was at the Battle of the Somme, which was one of the most brutal battles in the war. He experienced the horrors of trench warfare. So this quote was not written from philosophical stance, but from the firsthand experience of a man who survived one of history’s darkest times.

Welcome! The basic concept of Taoism is Wuwei(無為). Wuwei is take no action against nature, but let nature take its course.

My guess is that @Antares would say that dying and rotting is going with the flow, while southeast asian internal alchemy would reverse that process and go against the flow. I would again guess that Antares would point to the answer above. Much guesswork here, but the most likely answer might be 1) So that one has the time to practice the alchemical process to perfection, and 2) the result would ideally be that one sheds the husk in a nice form made of light.

In your estimation: What is the dying and rotting process? What is the yin-as-death-and-degradation/ascension-expansion/purification-refinement process? How do these processes differ on both a practical and metaphorical level? Why is it important to prevent degradation and death?

And yet that reality ignores such a large part of our lived experience. Reality testing is an important part of mental health. So is acknowledging the reality of our internal life and its impact on the external, for us and those around us.

I'm sorry to hear this one has got you down. It is a terrible curse, no doubt about it Bob. The work is there to do, every day... bringing yourself back to this moment. Current world circumstances make this more of a struggle than I can remember it being in some time for sure. My sympathies. _/\_ Daily meditation practice, especially just allowing the mind to be still, is the only thing I know that softens it, and makes us calmer, less reactive, and able to hold more of it at arms length before engaging the mind. Edit: To add Reminds me of:

..... but I would be nervous ..... way out here in the forest all alone .... just the two of us . Forestgreen ; '' YOU would be nervous ? What about me ! I am the one that has to walk all that back to the car by myself .

These are not serious links. E.g. Kervran's theory has been totally discredited by scientists.

Laying hens need lots of calcium in their diet, otherwise thin-shelled eggs. They can draw calcium from their bones, but that leads to bone problems.

I've deleted my comments about Damo. I realised I was still pretty upset about a disagreement I had with him years ago and that may have coloured a lot of what I wrote about him. Damo is obviously a human being too, and I bet it can't be too nice as a public figure reading anonymous people writing horrible things about you online. I think this has been fairly cathartic for me though, to get it off my chest after keeping it quiet for so long. So perhaps time to move on, forgive and forget. Apologies for airing dirty laundry, fellow bums

Yep I agree about the sense of religious ick ... but in the end I found that when I practiced this as part of the ngondro those kinds of reservations disappeared. I don't practice Dzogchen so its slightly different but essentially there's a point in meditation where your own efforts are not enough and you draw on 'blessings' to get through. The origin of the blessings in the first sense is your Lama (regarded as a Buddha) but in the end it is your Buddha-nature itself.